


Behind Room Sixty-Three

by Haddi_Etana3



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Abuse, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2015-11-23
Packaged: 2018-05-02 14:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5250815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haddi_Etana3/pseuds/Haddi_Etana3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick Valentine asks for another case so he can get a clear outlook on the other one he's working on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fresh Noir

It was roughly around 9:00 AM when Nick clocked in for work. Almost immediately officers in the police station began teasing and asking him questions. Finally, once he had gotten to the main offices, he raised his head, laughing loudly, “Alright, alright!”

Everyone quieted down, to the relief of those actually doing their work. Nick gave them a broad smile and boasted, “She said yes.” There were cheers and pats on the back until the head officer, Mark Johnson, came out. He demanded, in that always tough voice of his, for them to get back to work. It sent spikes of fear up all of their backs so they quickly quieted down.

Once he was in his office, hushed voices asked him, “So, how’d it go?” The question was posed by one of the uniformed cops, Margret.

Nick’s smile was so big it was hurting his cheeks while he recited the story. Last night was possibly the best day of his life: he proposed to the girl he loved. It was their two year anniversary, and he’d spent all day getting prepared. As elegantly as a young detective could, he brought her to the best restaurant in town and then went back to his house. There he presented with her probably the cheesiest thing, a scrapbook of places they’ve been, things they’ve done, and pictures they’ve taken. After that, he got down on one knee, and proposed. She laughed and said yes, then began crying. He confessed he couldn’t help but cry too.

Once the excitement died down on his proposal, he headed towards Johnson’s office. The department had asked for multiple detectives to help on a big case, some string robberies that no one could solve. Nick had been the most recent call in on the case and he was at a stalemate himself. He didn’t want to admit that, though. He was sure he needed just another fresh case and get back to it. With a clear mind he’d close it in no time.

He was about to knock on the door lightly, but before his knuckles made contact it swung open. Johnson barely glanced at him and made his way to maneuver through the sea of desks. Nick trailed behind him, “Johnson, I know I’m working on those robberies case, but I think that it’d be a real good idea if I start on another”

Johnson stopped, sighed, and shook his head, “You haven’t made any progress on that case. Don’t you dare tell me, Nick Valentine, that you’re gonna be the fourth detective to give up on it.”

“You really think I’m one to just drop a case? Sure, the broads are hard to track, but it’s not impossible to do it. I just need a fresh perspective, you know?” Nick attempted to persuade the officer, “Just let me get started on a small case, one that’ll be easy to piece together but give me enough time away from these robberies, and I swear it’ll be in the past in no time.”

Johnson just continued to stare in the man’s eyes, doubt lingering in them. He didn’t think that Nick could do it, despite being a pretty damn good detective. Nick’d be the first to admit he wasn’t the best, but he was certainly along the top ten in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

“Look, Nick, if you can’t solve the case then you just can’t solve it. On top of that I just don’t have a case for you.” The man continued to talk, but one of the interrogation rooms caught his eye. A woman was inside. She was a Native American, maybe some Mexican in her blood, early to mid twenties from the looks of it. Her face was decorated with bruises, most prominent one lined her square jaw and her hair was as mangled. She had tried to her best to manage it with tying it back in a long pony tail.

He gestured to her, “What about her? What happened to her?” He interrupted

The lead officer raised a brow and then turned to look at the woman. He frowned and head shook solemnly, “Another battered wife case. But she one of those kind, comes in tryin’ to fix her life but then backs out at the last second. We’ve been tryin’ to keep her here but she hasn’t done anything wrong, so we can’t do much without the dame wanting out help.

“Grace brought her in, woman was trudgin’ in the snow. She had to step out though, since the lady won’t even talk to her now.”

They got plenty of cases like that time to time, most of the time they were able to resolve them and convince the spouse to leave, lock up the abuser, the whole deal; however other times they never came back. There was one time when one did, but in a body bag. Ever since then most of the freshest faces at the time vowed to never let another case like that to happen, but along the road they realized they can’t do much for those refusing help. They can still try, though.

At that moment he decided that was his case was going to be. Nick nodded to the woman, “I’ll take care of it.”

He got a snort in response, “What?”

“Hey, you said that you don’t have any more cases to give me, so give me that one.”

“Valentine, it’s barely a case. She doesn’t want the help, what more are you gonna do?”

Nick nodded, “I’m gonna help her, that’s what.” He made his way to the door. Johnson gave up trying to convince him and shook his head as Nick opened the door gently.

Almost lazily, she drawled her eyes up to him. The moment she saw him her eyes twisted to confusion and her body tensed up, “You’re not Grace.”

“No, she had to leave for a while. I’ll be taking the reins from here.” He knew how jumpy battered women could be around men, given it was usually them who inflicted these kind of cases. He knew he wasn’t wrong when she tensed up, “I’m Nick, Nick Valentine.”

As he held out his hand, she seem to swallow back her fear to grab it and shake, her own hand colder than his. She was a brave one. “Delarosa Crowe.” He took note of the wedding ring, confirming what Johnson said about her being a wife.

He nodded and withdrew his hand, “Nice to meet you. Now, how’d you end up here?” His eyebrows drew together.

She shook her head, “That cop, Grace, she found me walking home from an intersection and picked me up.” She laughed, strained, “She thinks my husband did this.” If it wasn’t for the way she laughed, he would have believed her. Her lying skills were sharp.

“Why would she think somethin’ like that?” He questioned.

Delarosa shook her head, “When she asked who did this she thought I said my husband, but I was trying to say ‘Can I call my husband?’ Guess my chattering teeth made it hard.” She sniffed, “It was some random fucking junkies who did this, I didn’t get a good look. It was like- what, four in the morning? I was parked on the side of the street trying to finish writing a Happy Birthday card for my niece, her birthday’s today, and they broke into my car and threw me out. They hit me a few times and high tailed with my car.”

From the way she looked, he knew it wasn’t just a few times. “Did you fill out a report on your car?”

She frowned, “I don’t care much about that, it was a piece of shit anyways, probably broke down somewhere with them in it. I just want to go home, okay? I get you guys want to help, but I’m fine.”

“Don’t you at least want them caught? What if they do something like this again?” He pushed.

A rakey sigh came from her and she shook her head, “I doubt they will, they looked stupid, clumsy, probably barely knew what they were doing. I just want to leave.”

Nick stared at her in silence for several seconds before he whispered to her: “I thought you said you didn’t see what they looked like?”

Then, she knew she was caught. Her eyes darted to him, almost like prey watching a predator. He tried to keep himself looking as humble as possible, but she kept herself alert. “They still had shadows. Now can I leave? Please? You can’t keep me here, I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m in law school, not an idiot.”

He stared sadly and sighed, nodding, “Okay. I’ll take you to the telephones.”

She stared at him a moment longer then nodded slowly.

Nick opened the door for her and brought her to the telephones. She gave him a small smile, a thanks, then began dialing a number. He gave her a nod and rounded the corner that led to the offices. Instead of leaving her alone, though, he kept one ear open to listen to who she was calling. However, all he heard was the hang up of the phone and the clanking of her heels. Nick looked around the corner just as she slipped on her jacket and went outside.

* * *

 

In the three days since he last saw the battered dame Delarosa, he’d look into reports on a shared database for all the police stations within the Commonwealth about domestic violence, disturbance of the peace, and anonymous tips. There, he found a trail of her name dropped, all over Massachusetts. It’d begun mid of last year, and it was from a young man who lived below them. He said them fighting wasn’t uncommon, but then when he started hearing banging, and that day he heard the wife cry. They investigated but were told by the wife that they had a minor scuffle and she tripped and bumped her head.

It wasn’t until the fifth call from someone claiming to be the sister of Delarosa that Nick found her husband’s name, Nate, and that he was a soldier boy. Nothing came of it because the wife looked fine, the husband was nice, and no one apparently thought about checking if any reports were made previously.

He dug deeper into the man only to find one report about him. He was called up on because he was wandering the streets drunk, someone concerned he was gonna get his by a truck. He got driven home by a police car and the wife said thank you then that was that.

Nick sighed, disappointed in previous police officers for not really looking into the case, even just a little bit, to see all the damage done. If it wasn’t brushed off so easily Delarosa would’ve had the help she needed by then. He was gonna make sure she does get the help she needed, though. This time, no one was going to brush this aside.

* * *

 

The next day, Nick overheard a phone call one of the operators had gotten that day, an annoyed neighbor heard yelling from the apartment over. The couple always fought and this time it was the loudest. The moment he heard it, he asked to check it out, and was allowed to on the grounds that it could be related to his case.

The apartments he went to weren’t that shabby, the Frontline Apartments. He exited his car and rushed to get inside as an escape from the chilly air. From what the operator told him, it was the third floor, room sixty-three.

It wasn’t hard to find since it was just a couple of steps away from the elevator. Room sixty-two’s door opened to show a woman, and she nodded, “You from the police department.”

Nick tipped his hat, “Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Deal with that loud as can be couple, please. I’m trying to watch my TV.” And with that, she shut the door.

He headed towards sixty-three and knocked as loudly as possible. From The other side he heard quiet cursing and the sound of keys jangling. They unlocked three locks before getting to the hand one and set down the keys.

The man, who Nick assumed was Nate who answered the door stood with a straight back, and it was easy to spot the army bag right next to the door under a blue table where the keys sat on top. The man raised a brow, “Yes?”

Nick nodded his head, “I’m a detective working with the police department, we got a complaint about some fighting.”

Instead of answering, Nate looked confused, “Why would they call in a detective for a public disturbance?”

He lied smoothly, “We’re packed with cases, and I’m was the one who finished with my case first, so I’m taking the calls until someone’s time is freed up.”

Nate nodded, obviously on edge. Silence fell between them for an awkward moment or two until he said carefully, “There’s no issue here, sir. Just watching some boxing and got a little too excited.” The man leaned his weight on the door a bit, opening it just a bit wider.

“The woman next door came out a moment ago, and she told me there was a couple being loud? The way she said it, it has to be something that happens often.” Nick queried.

He shook his head, “It’s my parents. They’re in town for the weekend and always fight, you know how it is with elder folk,” He smiled, letting out a small puff of a laugh.

Nick smiled in response, “Yes I do, my parents can be just as bad.” Then, Nate got more comfortable and leaned the door in a bit more, allowing Nick to notice just past him was a woman on the couch. She was staring at nothing with watering eyes, fresh bruises, and a nose that still had blood dribbling out of it despite her constant wiping. The woman’s hair was short, choppy, like it’d been freshly cut, but the face was familiar; he realized it was Delarosa. He noticed the mole on the left side of her forehead with two smaller moles around it.

Before he realized he noticed her, Nick tipped his hat, “Well, sir. Make sure to try and keep your parents as quiet as possible to the best of your abilities. Good day.”

Nate waved slightly in reply, and let out a soft goodbye before shutting the door.

* * *

When Nick got to his car he parked it in a different spot and waited patiently. It wasn’t until the late afternoon when a car drove up to the front of the apartments and the man exited moments later to get in. Just as Nick thought, he had his army bag in his hand, and there were two other men in full uniform like he was in the car. It drove off and he waited thirty minutes after it left to get out.

He retraced his steps back to room sixty three and knocked on the door significantly lighter than before. There was shuffling on the other side, but he heard no jingling of keys this time, just the sound of hand lock being unlocked.

Delarosa opened the door while looking at the floor so she could kick the rug back into place, “Look, Miss Granger, I told you I don’t have your saucepan-” Once it was back in place she made eye contact with Nick and her face fell.

Her nose wasn’t bloody anymore, but he saw a spec of it on the edge of her nostril. It looked like in the thirty minutes her husband was gone she’d tried to even her hair out a bit.

She looked absolutely horrified, like a child caught stealing a sweet, but sobered up faster than he thought she would, “Nick, what’re you doing here?” Her back got as straight as her husband’s.

Nick frowned, “I was here just a moment ago, we got a disturbance call down at the station.” He explained softly.

“Thank you for worrying but we’re fine.”

“I’m not worried about the two of you, I’m worried about you”

It looked like her entire world came crumbling down in a moments notice, like she was just about to break down crying in front of him at that moment, just for a split second. But then just in the next moment, she breathed in deeply through her nose, “Thank you, Mister Valentine. You’ve got nothing to be concerned about.” She gave him her best award winning smile, “I hope you have a nice day.”

He watched her close the door, feeling a bit defeated. All he could do was wait for the next time a disturbance call came in or until someone saw something or she finally confessed to what was happening behind closed doors. Until then, he’d wait.

Nick made his way back to the station and laid down what happened to Johnson. From there, he kept looking into the previous reports and left an ear perched towards the operators. While waiting, he spent his time wrapping up the robbery case, and was able to close it once and for all.

Once he was done with it, he wasn’t sure what willed him to do it, but he went back to the apartment only to find them gone. He felt like he just let a murderer walk away with their future victim.

* * *

 

When he swung back to the police station to take what he’d left and head back to his own agency, Johnson approached him, “When you get back, I had one of the fellow police officers in another city drop off a file. It’s one that they’ve been having issues with her a while now and I mentioned you might be able to handle.”

He looked up at the head officer, “Well, you know I've got it. What’s the details on it?”

Johnson huffed, “This guy, Eddie Winters, is a quickly rising crime lord. Been giving them pains for the last couple of weeks.”

“Well,” Nick smirked, “I’ll get this closed within the week.”

Johnson returned the smirk, “Undoubtedly.”


	2. Old Noir

The three day trek from the raiders they needed to clear out for one of the settlements to Sanctuary was tasking on Nick. Despite the constant fixing of his wrist, it squeaked every time he turned it. Delarosa told him that they’d snag some oil back home to get his wrist back in pristine condition.

As promised, once back, she led him straight to the warehouse for some oil.

“Are you sure?” Nick asked, “We’ve been runnin’ low on supplies lately and these old gears are just gonna start squeaking again eventually.”

Delarosa shook her head with a smile, “No, it’s fine. When it comes to finding more resources I have my ways. ” She rubbed her eyes and yawned, “I’mma head back to my house, I guess. Not much else to do but get some rest. In the morning I’ve gotta help map out some trade routes.”

As he took care of his wrist, Nick raised a brow at her, “Can I ask you somethin’? I mean, you get a full book look into my life, and I’ve got a tick of information about yours.”

“Sure, shoot.”

He’d been meaning to broach the subject for a long time coming by then. When they first met, he didn’t remember her. Most of the memories of the old Nick rarely did come up unless he thought to connect the two, but when he found out she was Pre-War he really began thinking. Then the moles he remembered. Delarosa, however, never did seem to recognize Nick's name.

Once it was properly oiled, he moved his wrist around for anymore squeaking. Satisfied, he raised his head and set the can down on a nearby table, “I’ve noticed, maybe because of my outstanding detective skills, you don’t quite like goin’ into that house. Why’s that?”

Delarosa continued to stare at him for a moment before licking her lips and giving him a weak shrug, “It looks like shit?”

Nick laughed, “Sweetheart, every building in the Commonwealth looks like shit but you certainly don’t mind the bars.”

She raised her hands, “You got me there, Mister Valentine.” She picked out a bench and made herself comfortable. Feeling a story coming on, Nick followed in liege.

“So you might just be the first person I’ve ever admitted this to. I mean, just about everyone knew; countless of cops, neighbors, family members. You name it, they knew.” She laughed bitterly, “Fuck, I think our dog knew. But, I trust you, Nick. You’ve gotten me through hell and back and that makes people pretty damn close.

“Me and Nate didn’t have the best relationship. Well, at first he was great- amazing. So kind and soft spoken, was a nervous wreck most of the time. But then he went into the army and…” Her face got sour and nose scrunched up. “The army changes people, and sometimes it’s for the worst, and my god was he changed for the worst. Everytime he came home I felt like I was walking on eggshells, I didn’t know if he was going to explode on me again and just-” she stopped and swallowed, “I knew he needed help but he got so mad everytime I brought it up.”

Delarosa didn’t look at Nick. Her eyes stuck to a crate full of Wonderglue. “You know he didn’t come home and just hitting me one day, if he did I probably would had up and left. He started throwing things, and yelling more. Then he shoved me one day. The next he pushed me into a wall. The next he slapped me. The next he punched.” Her voice started to shake, but Nick didn’t know what to do. Like she said, they’d been through several shades of shit, and he had certainly seen her break down, but the only comfort he’d provided since then was verbal. It didn’t quite feel right to say ‘It’s gonna be fine’ in that situation.

“It’s the reason why we moved here, you know?” She looked out the door of the warehouse to the big tree, “So many people found out, and they kept confronting him. In apartments, it was easier to hear, but in houses, if he wasn’t too loud, he could get away with it.”

Her voice became more hushed, “I only married him because I was pregnant, and I didn’t want the baby to grow up without a dad. But then I miscarried, and was already too far in. Then Shaun came along and I had a reason again.” She wiped her face, “But then I realized, whatever he does to me, he’s gonna do to Shaun. He was gonna hurt him too and I- no. Just no.” She clenched her jaw, finally looking up at Nick, “I was going to leave the next time he went off to war. Because I wasn’t gonna let anyone hurt my baby. I swear to god I was gonna leave, Nick.” It sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than him.

Nick’s face was one of sympathy, robotic eyes filled with sorrow, “Do you remember me? Or the old Nick- from before the war?”

Delarosa stared at him for a moment before she wiped her face from snot and tears, “I don’t. You’ve gotta understand, Valentine, there were so many it was all a blur.”

“The Waterstreet Apartments, you were in law school at the time, walking in the snow and that officer-”

“Grace” She interrupted, “Grace Wilkins picked me up. I was so close to telling her what he did. Then while at the station a man,” she slowly smiled, “whose finger was still getting used to the ring around it talked to me.” Delarosa then laughed, slowly shaking her head, “Holy shit, Nick.”

He clasped his hands together, leaning forward as he watched her piece her memories back together. “The last time he saw you you’re hair was cut. Nick never did find out why, and I sure as hell can’t. Why did he cut your hair?”

Delarosa looked up at him and then back at her hair “He didn’t cut my hair, I did.”

“Why?” She had hair that, during the time, many women would die for.

“I got tired of him throwing me around.”

With all cards on the table, silence engulfed both of them, Nick running through all those memories of the old Nick, how she looked and acted compared to now.  Despite all she’d been through, she wasn’t much different than before. She was as brave as when she shook his hand.

Delarosa eventually stood, chuckling softly in attempt to lighten the mood, “I guess this is another case closed for Nick Valentine, huh?” She stretched.

Nick stood with her, smiling lightly, “The case isn’t closed until the past is put behind you.” He remarked to her, “And you know, I think the house just over there has the least leeks in town.”

She looked up at him, like she was trying to hack a difficult terminal. He wouldn’t mind her staring and saying nothing even if it took so long the next Great War happened. After a solid minute, she mused, “You’ve got a point. And you know, despite these amazing guns I’m packing I still need someone to lift the other side of my couch.”

What she said broke Nick into a grin, following her out of the warehouse, “Good thing you’ve got me to help you out.”

All night long they moved her belongings down the street, refusing the help of anyone who offered. By morning it was all moved, both synth and human alike worn down from the heavy lifting.

Nick sat on the couch with Delarosa’s head in his lap, her slowly drifting off. He moved his wrist, producing a loud squeak, “What did I tell you? The thing went right back to it.”

“We’ve got more oil, and quite frankly you can have the whole shed,” she mumbled, “See it as a thanks.”

He looked down at her, yellow eyes tracing her face. Nick could still recall the wounds from two hundred years ago. But now, she looked better- she looked happier- and despite the wastes being cruel, she looked healthy.

Delarosa pried her eyes open, staring at Nick like he was a dream, “Nick.”

“Yes?”

“You’re one of the best damn thing that’s crawled out of this mess.”

Nick felt a sense of accomplishment, a feeling all too familiar to know what it meant, “I guess _now_ you cancall this another case closed.” He took his good hand and held hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> preston ended up dealing with the trade routes


End file.
